The Civil Procedure Rule Committee is a statutory body which has responsibility for the Civil Procedure Rules, which govern civil court proceedings in England and Wales.
The minutes of the meeting on 7 March 2025 are particularly interesting for the light they shed on the work being done in preparation for the Renters’ Rights Bill.
Insights from the Civil Procedure Rules Committee Minutes
There was a throwaway comment towards the start of the relevant section referring to an ‘anticipated future state digital service’ to cover England and Wales. I suspect this means a new digital court procedure (referred to briefly in this post)
The main purpose of this part of the meeting, though, was to discuss the implementation of the Bill, which, it seems, will be in three stages.
- Stage 1 – the commencement of Tenancy Reforms in the Private Rental Sector (PRS)
- Stage 2 – the commencement of the remainder of the Bill provisions in the PRS
- Stage 3 – reforms to the social rented sector
It looks as if the proposed abolition of assured shorthold tenancies and Section 21 will only apply in the PRS, as social landlords (the notes tell us) will continue to be able to issue ASTs and evict using Section 21 for some time afterwards.
The notes also referred to ‘transitional arrangements of three months after the Act comes into force’. Although this could just be a reference to the period of time during which claims under section 21 (in the PRS) will be possible.
Here are a few other points thrown up by the minutes:
- The accelerated procedure will, once section 21 is abolished, be completely removed in England (although not in Wales)
- There will be changes to the Pre-Action protocols to take into account the new forthcoming rules requiring landlords to address heath hazards in rental properties within strict time limits (Awaabs law).
- A new digital service is being developed for possession claims, where users will be able to select the grounds being used, possibly via a drop-down list
- This new digital service, once operational, will supersede the PCOL (possession claims online) system.
- There are going to be amendments made to the current forms, so landlords should watch out for this. I would advise that forms are always downloaded from the gov.uk website so you can be sure that they are the most up-to-date version.
It would be good to know exactly what parts of the bill will come into force in Stage 1 and what will be put back until Stage 2.
Although we have been repeatedly told that the abolition of ASTs and section 21 will take place as soon as possible (for the PRS). I assume that Stage 2 will deal with matters that take longer to set up, such as the Redress Scheme, the Landlords Database, and the new rules for decent homes standards and Awaabs law.
No doubt we will be given more details in the extensive awareness campaign, which we are told will be launched at or shortly before the Bill comes into force.
As it’s a CPR thing why is there no discussion on costs?
Why is it that a tenant being evicted through no fault of their own nevertheless ends up having to pay the not insubstantial court fee in a Section 21 and presumably the same will be the case and maybe even legal costs as well, with the various ‘no-fault’ grounds of a Section 8, such as the landlord wishing to sell or move back in?
I suppose the reasoning is that the tenants were given the proper notice to depart but failed to do so, necessitating the landlord to bring eviction proceedings.
However, costs are always at the discretion of the Judge. So if they feel that the landlord has behaved badly, they can always refuse to award the landlord’s costs.